Chair



July 27, 1943. E. J. LLOYD 2,325,141

CHAIR Filed Nov. 28, 1959 Y QME/Q J Azarp,

Patented July 27, 1943 CHAIR Elmer J. Lloyd, Worcester, Mass., assignorto The American Steel and Wire Company of New Jersey, a corporation ofNew Jersey Application November 28, 1939, Serial No. 306,561

1 Claim. (01. 155-189) This invention relates to chairs, and moreparticularly to those which are used on tramways, such as aerial skitramways, although not limited thereto.

Recent developments have given rise to aerial ski tramways which carryskiers from the bottom of ski courses to the tops thereof in order thatthe skiers are not compelled to walk these distances, which are usuallyvery long. desirable to carry the skiers back up the ski course in amanner involving as little effort as possible on the part of the skiers;and in such manner that they may be absolutely safe in transit.

Such an aerial ski tramway is disclosed in Patent No. 2,152,235 toBannerman, Curran and Trout, dated March 28, 1939.

One object of the present invention is to provide a chair of the classdescribed which is extremely safe, simple to use, and one which, at thesame time, is reassuring in safety to the occupant.

Another object is to eliminate the use of belts of a type which will bereferred to hereinafter.

Public life insurance must be carried by any company furnishingtransportation to the general public; and the insurance companiesrequire that a chair of the type referred to be equipped with a belt orguard. Originally, ski tramways have been equipped with chairs which areprovided with broad canvas belts fitted with hooks. In using such achair, the occupant must attach the hook to the framework thereof afterseatin himself and while the chair is in motion. In addition, theoccupant must unhook the belt just before dismounting. While such broadcanvas belts are safe, they do not give to the occupant of the chair asgreat a feeling of security as could be desired. The operation ofattaching the belt is very easily understood, but it has been observedthat many occupants of the chairs are confused by it and some actuallyfail to make use of the same. When not in use, these broad canvas beltshang down and flop loosely from side to side, which is also undesirable.

The invention, then, comprises the features hereinafter fully describedand as particularly pointed out in the claim, the following descriptionand the annexed drawing setting forth in detail the certain illustrativeembodiment of the invention, this being indicative of but one of anumber of ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed.

The foregoing and further objects will be apparent after referring tothe drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the chair of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevation; and

Figures 3 and 4 are fragmentary views taken at right angles to eachother and illustrating structural details.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 2 designatesgenerally a hanger which is suitably connected to the conveying rope orcable (not shown) of an aerial-tramway or other support in connectionwith which the device of the invention is to be employed.

As shown in Figure 1, the larger portion of the hanger 2 extendssubstantially vertical, while the bottom thereof is bent atright angles,as shown at 3. Disposed horizontally and at right angles to the portion3 of the hanger 2 is a pair of parallel bars t which form a portion ofthe basic framework of the chair. These parallel bars a are providedwith extensions 5 which extend downwardly at an oblique angle and carryat their extremities a transverse connecting bar 6 which forms thelowermost portion of the chair.

The basic framework of the back of the chair of the present invention isformed by a pair of coextensive bars 8 which are connected to and extenddiagonally upward from the parallel bars 4. The uppermost ends of theparallel bars I are rearwardly and forwardly curved, as shown at ill andII, respectively, and provided at their extremities with horizontalextending portions l2.

Immediately below the rearwardly and forwardly curved portions ill andII, respectively, of the extensions 8 of the parallel bars 4, there isprovided a transverse rod ll which connects the latter.

Disposed immediately above the parallel bars 4 and connecting theextensions 8 of the latter there is a bar l5 which is parallel with thetransverse rod l4.

Between and connecting the transverse rod ll and bar l5 there are aseries of bars H which serve as a backrest for the chair.

In order to provide for securing the passenger within the chair againstaccidental displacement therefrom, the transverse rod It carries inpivoted relationship with each of its ends awire loop 20 which comprisesadjacent its open end a pair of parallel portions and a closed endportion 2|. It will thus be seen that the loop 20 may be rotated intoposition around the body of the passenger after he has taken his placein the chair.

Referring more particularly to Figures 1 and 2, it will be perceivedthat the device of the invention provides side or arm portions for thesafety and ,comfort of the occupant. More specifically, the inner sideas shown in Figure 1, or the left-hand side as shown in Figure 2,comprises a member 22 formed of an upright portion which is connected tothe adjacent bar t and a horizontal arm rest portion 23 which isconnected to the extension 8 of the said bar 4. On the other side of thechair there is provided a member 22, generally similar to the member 22described hereinbefore but comprising a horizontal arm rest portion 23which extends in parallelism with the similarly numbered portion of theearlier described element 22, except that it is somewhat extended and issecured intermediate its ends to the vertically depending portion of thehanger 2. The extended part of the horizontal portion 23 of thesecond-named member 22 therefore extends beyond the correspondingportion of the first-named member 22 and terminates in a substantiallyvertically depending portion 24 which is secured at its lowermostportion to the adjacent bar 4. If desired, suitable diagonal braces maybe employed for rigidiiying the second-named member 22. According to theforegoing construction and arrangement, the members 22 on either side ofthe chair enable the portions 23 to provide horizontal arm rests; whilethe one on the side thereof which is connected to the hanger 2 is longerin order to provide increased safety and comfort, the opposite andsmaller of the members 22 permitting the occupant to easily leave thechair.

The parallel bars 4 and downward extensions 5 thereof are provided withcushions of any suitable design. Each of the elements forming theframework of the chair is a commercially rolled metallic round; and theconnections referred to hereinbefore are efiected by welding. Thisprovides for extreme durability without involving substantial expense.

While I have shown and described one specific embodiment of the presentinvention, it will be seen that I do not wish to be limited exactlythereto, since various modifications may be made without departing fromthe scope of the invention, as defined by the following claim.

I claim:

An aerial ski tramway chair comprising a substantially verticallyextending member adapted to be secured to the traveling rope of thetramway, said member being provided with a substantially right-angularextension in spaced relationship with respect to said rope, a seatsecured to said right-angular extension, a back rest, an arm restsecured to said seat and to said back rest, a rigid loop member havingits ends pivotally connected to said back rest, said rigid loop memberbeing adapted to freely swing into and out of such position that theseated occupant of the chair is enclosed thereby, and at least onelaterally-extending member carried by said back rest and adapted torestrain said rigid loop member against excessive backward swingingmovement, said last-named member being of suflicient size to alsofunction as a handle. A

ELMER J. LLOYD.

